The Power of believing that you can improve
Authored by Ravi Sonnad, Founder & CEO, Enabling Leadership
A few years ago in December, I watched many of our programs in action — children playing football in dusty open spaces in the middle of a busy city (because there are no school playgrounds) and singing songs under a tree in the village square (because the village school did not allow us to use their classroom). I saw children from some very impoverished backgrounds full of energy and laughter, and remarkably confident — reveling in the accomplishment of scoring a goal or writing their song.
After the sessions, I asked our coaches and teachers what changes they had observed in the children. One of the universal responses was, “they now believe they can accomplish anything — they know that if they put their minds to something, and work hard, they can learn whatever they want.” As much as I was thrilled to hear this, I wondered why this was so important in our coaches’ and teachers’ minds.
Towards the end of my trip, I was sitting at an outdoor Café in Bangalore writing my notes. A young boy and girl were doing a dance sequence on the pavement hoping to collect money from passersby. I over heard the lady at the table next to me say, “I wish these kids were in school, but you know, many of these street kids don’t really like being in school anyway.” The man next to her responded, “It’s so true. But it comes from the parents — how do you expect them to know anything better?”
Carol Dweck, a researcher at Stanford defines a “Fixed Mindset” as one that believes that all capabilities and talents are innate whereas a “Growth Mindset” is one that believes focused effort allows one to learn and get better. It is not the idea of being “Open-minded” as much as the belief that you can learn anything you want.
I was reminded of why we focus on getting kids in our program to develop a “Growth Mindset.” In a world of prejudices, judgments, and preconceived notions, unfortunately, many young people get told, “this is not for you”, “you were meant to”, “girls aren’t supposed to”, and so on. This reinforces the “Fixed Mindset” which means that we don’t realize the full potential of so many people. This plays out in a very similar fashion in the workplace as well.
A very good people manager develops talent by encouraging a “Growth Mindset” and by reinforcing the idea that “You can do whatever you want — it only takes a focused effort”. This means not thinking in terms of pre-determined “career paths” but letting employees decide their growth path. It means encouraging people to try new things. It also means allowing mistakes to happen and using these mistakes as a learning opportunity.
But for us to do this, doesn’t it take us having a “Growth Mindset” in the first place?
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